Dodd-Frank and the Dome House

A New York Times article reports on a 2,500-square-foot dome-shaped house that is for sale on 28 acres of land in New Paltz, N.Y.:

David B. South, head of the Monolithic Dome Institute and a builder of dome houses, schools and athletic facilities of his own design, said his Texas-based company was erecting as many as 100 homes a year until regulations like the Dodd-Frank Act took effect, forcing banks to look harder at the marketability of the homes they were underwriting. "Now it's eight to 10 a year if we're lucky," Mr. South said.

"It's all Congress's fault," he said. "A man should be able to build whatever home he wants and can afford."

It's not clear whether this is an intended or unintended consequence, but either way, if it is indeed true that the Dodd-Frank Act is forcing homebuilders and buyers into architecturally conventional rather than daring or unusual designs, it's certainly newsworthy.